Freezing tray



Aug. 5, 1941. H. D. GEYER FREEZING TRA-Y V 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 .Filed March 21, 1941 lNvENToRk v H91" BY w ATTORNEYS H. D. GEYER FREEZING TRAY Aug. 5, 1941,

Filed March 21 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MI/Lmau "7%, ATTORNEYS 'a block from the pan.

Patented Aug. 5,1941

Harvey D.

eral Motors poration of Delaware Geyer, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Gen- Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a cor- Application March 21, 1941, Serial No. 384,469 4 Claims. (Cl. 62-1085) This invention relates to freezing trays, particularly such as may be used in household refrigerators for freezing small blocks of ice for table use.

An object of this invention is to. provide an improved partitioning grid for freezing trays having a main longitudinal wall and a series of cross walls spaced along the length thereof, the cross walls being separately nally of said main wall one after the other by means of'a suitable hand'tool to be used by the person operating the device.

A feature of the grid of this invention is itssimplicity of design and its minimum of parts, and hence its economy of manufacture.

Another feature of this grid is its high efficiency in operation whereby two or more hard frozen ice blocks may be very easily and quickly removed therefrom without the necessity of any meltingof the'ice blocks to loosen same from the grid.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an 'ice tray with a grid, made according to this invention, inserted therein in freezing position.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates one method of permanently tiltable lonsitudiassembling the cross walls to the longitudinal wall.

Fig. 4 illustrates va method of removing the hard frozen ice blocks from the grid by the use of a suitable detached hand tool or lever. Two alternative forms of such a suitable hand tool are shown, in this Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 illustrates a method of removing two ice blocks from the grid by the use of a third alternative form of suitable hand tool.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, Ill designates a one-piece pressed metal pan which may be of any known type, or it may be of non-metallic material such as flexible rubber if desired. However'I prefer to use with the grid of this invention a slightly flexible metal pan which may be slightly flexed when filled with its frozen contents to first free the grid and its frozen contents as Such a flexible metal pan is disclosed and claimed in my Patent No.

2,122,937 issued July5, 1W8, filed July 2, 1936.

The grid comprises a longitudinal metal partition wall II and a series of transverse metal walls I2 each retained loosely upon said center wall II so asto be capable of a small tilting movement relative thereto, as will be clear from the drawings. Transverse walls I2 are preferably retained in a slanted position as illustrated, however this is not necessary and their normal position may be vertical or slanted in the opposite direction from that illustrated.

The preferred method of making the grid will now be described. The center wall II is provided with notches IS on its lower edge and somewhat wider opposed notches Il on its upper edge (see Fig. 3), and shaped in outline to fit loosely in pan wall. Each transverse wall I2 is first formed as shown in Fig. 3, having a punched out central slot I5 therein-which has such depth that the central wall II may be threaded thru slots I,

as illustrated on the right side of Fig. 3. Each transverse wall I2 also has an integral upward projection I8 and a bent portion I9 turned down at such an angle that its lower edge 20' will still not interfere with the passage of central wall II thru slot I5. Obviously this permits each of the transverse walls I2 to be slipped over the end of central wall II and be passed therealong toits desired position.

To permanently assemble each transverse wall I! upqn the central wall II, each wall I2 is passed along wall particular lower notch l8, whereupon the wall I2 is raised upwardly causing its lower marginal portion 25 to enter and be retained in the notch I6. After such raising of wall I2 the upper boundary of slot I5 will lie at It and the bent portion I9 will lie in the dotted position shown in Fig. 3 (see left side of Fig. 3). The bent portion I9 may then be bent down to its final position I9, and thereby permanently retain wall I2 loosely in the two notches I1 and It, as will be clear from the drawings. When thus finally assembled upon the central wall II each of the transverse walls I2 may be individually tilted relative thereto a small amount. Also each wall I2 may 'be bodily moved longitudinally of wall I I a slight III to form a central partitionll until it registers with its" j by hand.-

of suitable separate hand tool small link 4| pivoted thereto at 42. In operation,

the water to be frozen. All of the transverse 'walls 12 will tilt over by gravity and each will engage'the-similar end of its notch l1, so that when walls I! are in their normal freezing position they will all be tilted at the same angle as best'shown' in Fig. 2. Furthermore they will all be urged to"'lie substantially perpendicular. to the other words, if any one tilted wall I! should lie at an angle to center wall I l (as seen in top view),

one end of such wall l2 will necessarily lie below 'the other end thereof, and hence when this lower end of wall I 2 engagesthe pan bottom it will be cammed backto its normal position at which its lower edge extends horizontally, as shown in Fig. 1. Hence Fig. 1 shows the only position of the walls l2 when the lower edges of these walls.

It lie in substantial uniform contact with the I pan bottom. Therefore the grid unit may be inserted carelessly into the pan and then be given a shake or two, whereupon all the walls l2 will arrange themselves in their correct freezing position-shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

To remove the ice blocks after being solidly frozen, the grid and its ice-contents are first removed from the pan III in any known manner, which may be by slightly flexing pan ID by downward hand pressure on its two diagonally opposed corners 23 and 24 as described in my said Patent No. 2,122,937, issued July 5, 1938.

The first transverse wall l2 may then be tilted forward with the thumb to release the first two ice blocks, leaving the remainder undisturbed. When more ice blocks are wanted, the other walls. i2 may each be tilted forward, one after the other, until all the ice blocks are released.

Obviously if desired,'a' suitable hand tool may be used instead of -the fingers to engage the projectionsl8 and tiltwalls l2 forward one after the.

other. Or asuitable mechanism attached to the grid, including a longitudinally movable actuating bar or link extending along the top-edge of center wall ll, may be employed to tilt walls I! forward successively to release successive pairs of ice blocks a as described above. Preferably all metal surfaces-which are frozen-bonded to the ice are coated with a thin film of hard wax to materially facilitate the operation of the device.

At the left side of Fig. 4, a suitable separate handtool 30 is shown being used to tilt forward the first cross wall l2, thereby causing the first two ice blocks 3! to bereleased. This hand tool 4 30 is a simple hand lever having a forked lower endjf3 2 which'is readily applied to the unob structed upper center portions l8. of the cross walls l2 whereby to readily tilt the cross walls I! forward one after the other.

In Fig. 4 there is also shown a slightly modified form of suitable hand tool 35. This hand tool 35 functions similarly to hand tool 30, simply by using its forked lower end to successively grip the unobstructed upper center portions ll of cross walls l2 whereby to tilt said cross walls forward In Fig; 5 there is shown another modified'form 40, which has a the upper end of tool 40 is swung in the direction wall from their of said openings of the arrow to thereby cause its lower end 43 to pry against the unobstructed upper center portions l8 of cross walls l2,.whereby to readily tilt said cross walls forward one. after the other.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate three forms of separate hand tools which may be readily used to successively engage and tilt cross walls l2 forward to releasethe ice blocks. It is to be understood however that this invention is not limited to any specific form of separate hand tool, since other forms of such hand tools may be easily devised to suitably engage'the unobstructed upper center portions l8 of cross walls l2 in order to more easily tilt same forward to release the ice. However it is obvious thatthe cross walls I2 are more easily tilted forward when the manual tilting force is applied thereto at their uppercenter par-- might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows: p

1. In combination, an elongated grid structure for disposition ina'freezing tray and removable therefrom as a unit, said grid structure comprising a longitudinal main wall having a series of cross-wall-retaining recesses therein spaced along its length walls loosely retained'in said recesses in such manner that 'said cross walls are individually tiltable longitudinally of said main wall from their normal inclined freezing positions, said cross walls each having an upper center portion of substantial area spaced from and unobstructed by all adjacent portions of said main'wall when the grid parts are in freezing position, and a separate hand tool for successively and individually engaging said unobstructed center portions of said cross walls for manually tilting said cross walls one after the other longitudinally of said main wall to facilitate the removal of the ice from said grid.

2. In combination, an elongated grid structure for disposition in a freezing tray and removable therefrom as a unit, said grid structure compris-' ing a longitudinal main. wall having a series-of openings in both its upper and lL-wer marginal portions, and a plurality of normally inclined cros walls each loosely retained upon said main w all by a loose fit within an upper and a lower in said main-wall, said cross walls being tiltable longitudinally of said main normal inclined freezing positions, said cross walls each having an upper center portion of substantial area clearing by a substantial distance adjacent portions of said main wall when the grid parts-arein freezing position, and a separate hand tool for selectively engaging said cleared center portionsofsaid cross walls for longitudinally of said main wall to facilitate the removal of the ice from said grid.

3. In combination, a grid structure for dis-- 7 position in a freezing tray and removable therefrom as a unit, said grid structure comprising amain wall having a plurality of openings in marginal portions thereof, and a series of cross walls each loosely retained upon said'm'ain wall by a loose fit within an upper and alower of said openings in said main wall, both said upper and lower openings and a series of normally inclined cross manually tilting said cross walls permitting a ubstantial tilting movement of each of said crosswalls longitudinally of said main wall, said cross walls each having an upper center portion extending clear of 'and in spaced relation with adjacent portions of said main wal' when the grid parts are in freezing position, and a separate hand tool for engaging said upper center portions of said cros walls when the grid parts are frozen-bonded to the ice for manually tilting said cross walls one after the other longitudinally of said main wall to loosen the ice from said grid.

4 4. In combination, an elongated grid structure for disposition in afreezing tray and removable therefrom as a unit, said grid structure comprising a longitudinal main wall having a series of cross-wall-retaining openings therein spaced along its length and a series of cross walls loosely retained in said openings in such manner that said cross walls are each tiltable longitudinally of said main wall from their normal freezing positions in order to facilitate the removal of the ice, the upper' central portions of said cross walls when in freezing position being spaced from and unobstructed by all adjacent portions of 'said main wall, and a separate hand tool for forcibly engaging said unobstructed upper central portions of said cross walls for manually 

